The storm above the coliseum split open like a monstrous wound, dark clouds spiraling faster and faster as if the sky itself was being torn apart.
I could feel it—raw, uncontrollable energy pouring out of me like a dam had broken. My shadow was no longer a simple silhouette.
It had become a living, breathing entity.
Black tendrils of shadow lashed out in every direction, clawing at the ground, twisting through the air, even reaching toward the heavens like they were trying to tear down the sky itself.
"Liam! Control it!" the Shadow Queen shouted, for the first time her voice tinged with genuine alarm.
But I couldn't.
My body felt like a cracked vessel, overflowing with power far beyond my ability to contain.
My vision turned pitch black—except I wasn't blind.
I could see through the shadows. Every crevice, every hidden corner of the Shadow Realm… they were all suddenly visible to me.
And worse…
They could see me too.
From beyond the torn skies, I felt it.
Eyes.
Thousands—millions—of ancient, slumbering presences suddenly snapping awake.
From the darkest corners of the Shadow Realm, eldritch beings, forgotten gods, and ancient overlords long thought extinct… were all turning their gaze directly toward me.
"The Bloodline has reawakened…"
A voice like thunder rumbled across the skies.
"Who dares summon the Final Heir of the Shadowborn?"
Far above, through the swirling maelstrom, I saw it—a colossal, serpentine shadow coiling through the clouds, its size so vast it could've wrapped around entire continents. Its eyes alone were bigger than mountains, glowing like dying stars.
The entire arena trembled.
Even the Shadow Queen stood motionless, her scythe lowered, her face pale.
"No… this can't be…" she whispered. "The Abyssal Sovereigns… they've noticed."
I collapsed to my knees, gasping for air. My body felt like it was about to shatter.
And then, it happened.
My out-of-control shadow exploded outward in a massive pulse of dark energy.
The entire coliseum cracked and crumbled, black fissures racing across the ground, stretching far beyond the horizon.
From those cracks… things began to crawl out.
Not demons. Not monsters.
Something worse.
Eldritch beings of pure chaos and shadow, their forms impossible to fully comprehend. Wings where there should be none. Eyes that opened and closed randomly across their bodies. Mouths filled with teeth that whispered in languages no mortal should hear.
One of them stepped forward, its many heads twisting unnaturally toward me.
"The Final Heir has returned… Shall we begin the Reckoning?"
I couldn't move.
I couldn't even breathe.
The Shadow Queen suddenly appeared at my side, her hand slamming against my chest, flooding me with calming, cold energy.
"Liam, listen to me!" she shouted directly into my ear. "You have to seal it now! Or they will drag you—and this entire realm—into the Abyss!"
"But… how?!" I gasped.
Her crimson eyes met mine with terrifying seriousness.
"Command your shadow. It is not your master. You are its king!"
Summoning what little will I had left, I forced myself to stand.
My legs shook. My body screamed in agony. But I stood.
With every ounce of strength remaining, I roared into the raging void:
"ENOUGH! YOU. BELONG. TO ME!"
The shadows froze.
And then—like a snapped leash—everything collapsed.
The sky closed. The eldritch horrors retreated with bone-chilling howls. The serpentine being faded into the clouds, its glowing eyes the last to disappear.
The coliseum crumbled around us, but the storm cleared.
Silence fell.
I collapsed again, this time into the waiting arms of the Shadow Queen.
Her voice was soft now, almost… relieved.
"You're alive. And you did it, Liam."
I tried to speak, but darkness swallowed me whole.
To be continued…